Wait and Wish

 How about it?  Two of the most used words in my lifetime!  Wait......until the temperatures get warmer,  wait.......until the temperatures get cooler, wait......until the leaves change, hunting season, snow arrives, leeks pop through the ground, spring gobbler, trout fishing, get the garden ready, plant the garden, harvest the garden, put the garden to rest for the winter............I can't wait until.......  Then the wish my life away, wish for vacation, family to visit, grandchildren to be born, sons to come back to the USA from deployment, you name it I have wished just as much as I wait for things to happen.  Now, at my age it pretty much has stopped.  Each day is another day to not think of tomorrow or what I want or want to do.  Just take it for what it is.  

Today was the first cool day for us to get some outside work done without complaining how sweaty we are.  I put on my favorite old purple hooded sweatshirt and away I went.  First was to brush hog the fields for one last time this year.  Moving right along and enjoying the ride and view it happened.  A pin sheared which means the hog quits cutting and a new pin has to be put in.  No big deal it was actually time to move on to something else.  Keep a little spice in my life :)  Next I gathered the peas left on the plants to dry.  These will be used to plant in the spring.  Once I got all the dead pea plants pulled Dick hauled them away to the big garden to "wait" for the rest of the garden plants to turn dry and brown.  They will be burned in one big pile and the potash spread on the garden for a little extra nutrition.  Together we picked a bucket of Roma tomatoes that I will can, not sure what.....stewed or plain.   We also had quite a few hot peppers that will be fire roasted and put in the freezer for a great almost Hatch Green Chile Stew.  Not Hatch chiles but will still be might tasty in the cold snowy days of winter.

The dead pea plants that are no more. 

My view, up and down the valley.  It is something I never tire of.

Way down there, is a guy on the garden tractor with a can of paint, paint brush and headed to the upper wood line to paint a bench he made me.  My favorite walk and set on the bench to enjoy the view.

The NC corn is ready to pick.  We didn't think it would ripen but what a nice surprise.  Some ears are over 12" long.  I have never seen such huge white kernels and the best part........it doesn't get stuck between teeth!  The reason I don't like to eat corn on the cob, not the problem with this corn.  Also ready was our grapes.  We look forward to them just to eat.  So sweet and the skins are light and tender with no seeds to spit out.  I wish I could remember what variety but not sure....think they were called champagne grapes.  

One more "wish"......just can't help myself.....RAIN, we need lots of gentle rain for days and days!  The creeks are so low, scary!